U.S. colleges are recruiting and accepting record number of students who are foreign born

Countries of origin

Nations that sent the most students to U.S. colleges in the 2011-12 academic year:

1. China

2. India

3. South Korea

4. Saudi Arabia

5. Canada

6. Taiwan

7. Japan

8. Vietnam

9. Mexico

10. Turkey

Source: Institute of International Education

Host campuses

These U.S. colleges had the most international students during the 2011-12 school year:

1. University of Southern California: 9,269 students

2. University of Illinois — Urbana-Champaign: 8,997

3. New York University: 8,660

4. Purdue University — main campus: 8,563

5. Columbia University: 8,024

6. UCLA: 6,703

7. Northeastern University — Boston: 6,486

8. University of Michigan — Ann Arbor: 6,382

9. Michigan State University — East Lansing: 6,209

10. Ohio State University — main campus: 6,142

Source: Institute of International Education

Local universities

Number of international students in fall 2011:

•University of California San Diego — 2,713

•San Diego State University — 2,773

•University of San Diego — 600

•Cal State San Marcos — 314

•Point Loma Nazarene University — 40

Source: U-T research

The number of international students studying at U.S. colleges has reached record highs in each of the past six years, and education experts predict the trend will continue.

They point to two prime factors:

• The prestige associated with an American education among countries with growing economies or wealthy governments, including China, South Korea, India and Saudi Arabia.

• Increasing efforts by U.S. universities — public and private — to attract more foreign students as a way to shore up budgets hurt by declining government funding. International students typically pay double or more the standard tuition, not to mention on-campus living expenses and related spending for dependents and relatives. Marketing and recruitment campaigns aimed at this demographic, including an expansion plan for the University of California system, have generated much debate between supporters and detractors.

Nearly 765,000 international students attended colleges in the United States during 2011-12, the most recent academic year for national data, according to a report from the Institute for International Education and the U.S. State Department. That figure was 6 percent higher than the total from the previous school year and 31 percent higher than a decade ago.

Of the 25 campuses with the most international students, a dozen have increased international enrollment by more than 40 percent in just five years, the report showed. Public institutions accounted for all but one of those campuses.

To be sure, educators said, colleges across the United States value the global vibe and diverse perspectives that international students bring to their campuses. But those experts also said there’s no doubt that finances are another motivation.

Public universities hit hard by state funding cuts “really are starting to realize that tuition from international students makes it possible for them to continue offering scholarships and financial aid to domestic students,” said Peggy Blumenthal, senior counselor at the institute.

Sheila Park, a U.S.-educated South Korean who now recruits students in her native country to enroll abroad, said U.S. colleges have ramped up their outreach.

“There are many more brochures, web pages devoted to international students,” Park said. “Some schools are paying higher commissions to us. Some have even lowered their enrollment eligibility requirements a little for students coming from outside countries.”